How much money does each fan pay directly to the Philadelphia Phillies‘ players per game?
Based on the average ticket price, concessions, souvenirs or others items that could be purchased, it’s fair to estimate that a fan deposits approximately $60 at Citizens Bank Park per game. This is purely an estimation based on personal experience at the stadium and a review of various costs shown on the team’s website.
There’s no specific way to know what percent of in-stadium revenues goes directly to player payroll. It’s understood that costs connected to health insurance and other non-salary benefits are also covered by the money that fans willingly surrender during each game.
We know that there are other revenue streams (television money, product license fees, etc.) that help to cover costs associated with each team, that visiting teams share in revenue streams collected at opposing parks and that the luxury tax is dispersed in a variety of ways by Major League Baseball.
With detail issues now generally addressed, let’s play ‘Moneyball’.
Cliff Lee (2013 salary – $25 million), Jonathan Papelbon (2013 salary – $13 million salary) and Freddy Galvis (2013 salary – $490,000) will be used as points of reference.
The Phillies’ 2013 payroll is approximately $165 million. The following numbers represent the approximate percent that each player’s salary fills within the team’s entire payroll: Lee’s $25 million salary (15%), Papelbons’ $13 million salary (8%) and Galvis’ $490,000 salary (0.3 of 1%).
Let’s assume that one-half ($30) of each fan’s total per game payment ($60) goes toward player salaries. If this estimation is generally correct then, Lee receives $4.50, Papelbon receives $2.40 and Galvis receives 0.09 cents from every fan per game.
While these numbers aren’t exact, they do offer perspective. Think about them the next time you buy a ticket, hot dog, beer, soda, ice cream, any type of gear or whatever else whenever you attend a Phillies’ game.
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